• Only few who applied and since went overseas remain to be paid  

The payment of voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) compensation to employees affected by the restructuring of the former Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is in its final stages, with payments already made to almost all eligible recipients, Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka said.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, he said that the only outstanding payments relate to a small number of employees who applied for the VRS and subsequently left the country. "Except for a few employees who applied for the VRS and then went abroad, compensation has already been paid to everyone else. The remaining payments will also be settled as soon as possible," he said.

The compensation payments relate to employees who opted to retire voluntarily following the restructuring of the CEB and the establishment of six successor companies.

Earlier, Karunathilaka said that around Rs  8.5 billion was required to compensate 1,896 employees who chose to retire under the VRS. He also announced that the General Treasury would bear 100 per cent of the VRS compensation payable to employees attached to the Lanka Electricity Generation Lanka (Private) Limited Company and the Electricity Distribution Lanka ( Pvt) Ltd  Company. Cabinet of Ministers approval had also been obtained for the Treasury to cover 50 per cent of the compensation payable to employees attached to the National System Operator ( Pvt) Ltd  Company and the National Transmission Network Service Provider ( Pvt) Ltd  Company.

The six Companies created under the restructuring process officially commenced operations on 9 March after the repeal of the CEB Act, No. 17 of 1969, under which the CEB ceased to exist as a corporate entity. The newly established entities are the Lanka Electricity Generation Lanka Company, the National Transmission Network Service Provider Company, the National System Operator Company, the Electricity Distribution Lanka Company, the Employees Fund ( Pvt) Ltd  Company and the Energy Ventures Lanka ( Pvt) Ltd  Company.